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Stories of the Holy Prophets Stories of The Holy Prophets NOURESHAM BOOK CENTER AL-FATIH ISLAMIC INSTITUTE Stories of The Holy Prophets TEXTS BY Bashar Bakkour Mansi Omar Omar Sa'ad Eddin Omar Kachkar Safi Shehada EDITED BY M.W. Al-Jallad NOURESHAM BOOK CENTER & AL-FATIH ISLAMIC INSTITUTE DAMASCUS 2019 Second Edition NOURESHAM BOOK CENTER Bldg 2, Omar Al-Mukhtar Avenue No.6, Al-Mazraa,. Tel: 00 963 11 4457458, Fax: 00 963 11 3324913 PO Box: 249. Damascus-Syria E-mail: [email protected] Contents Index 5 Foreword 7 Acknowledgment 9 Preface 11 The prophets' tree 13 The prophets stories: 1. Prophet Adam : by Bashar Bakkour 15 2. Prophet Idris (Enoch) : Arabic text by M.W. Al-Jallad 31 English text by Safi Shehada 3. Prophet Nouh (Noah): by ‘Omar Kachkar 35 4. Prophet Hud : by ‘Omar Sa‘ad Ed-Din 49 5. Prophet Salih : Arabic text by M. W. Al-Jallad 57 English text by ‘Omar Kachkar 6. Prophet Ibrahim (Abram ) : Safi Shehada 67 7. Prophet Lout (Lot): Arabic text by Bashar Bakkour 89 English text by Mansi Al-‘Omar 8. Prophet Isma‘il (Ismael): by Bashar Bakkour 99 9. by ‘Omar Kachkar 107 10. Prophet Ya‘qoub (Jacob): Arabic text by Mansi Al-‘Omar 115 English text by ‘Omar Kachkar 11. Prophet Yûsuf (Joseph): by ‘Omar Kachkar 121 12. Prophet Shu‘aib : by Omar Sa‘ad Ed-Din 135 13. Prophet Ayyoub (Job): by Mansi Al-‘Omar 143 14. Prophet Dhu al-Kifl : Arabic text by Bashar Bakkour 151 English text by Mansi Al-‘Omar 15. Prophet Mousa (Moses): by Safi Shehada 155 16. Prophet Haroun (Aaron): by Safi Shehada 177 17. Prophet Dawod (David): Arabic text by ‘Omar Sa‘ad Eddin 187 English text by Safi Shehada 18. Prophet Sûleyman (Solomon): by Mansi Al-‘Omar 199 19. Prophet Ilias (Ilisha): by Mansi Al-‘Omar 217 20. Prophet Iliasa‘ (Ilijah): by ‘Omar Sa‘ad Eddin 225 21. Prophet Yûnus (Jonah): Arabic text by M.W. Al-Jallad 229 English text by Mansi Al-‘Omar 22. Prophet Zakariya (Zachariah): by ‘Omar Kashkar 241 23. Prophet Yahya (John): Arabic text by M.W. Al-Jallad 247 English text by Mansi Al-‘Omar 24. Prophet ‘Îsa (Jesus): by Bashar Bakkour 255 25. Prophet Muhammad: by ‘Omar Sa‘ad Eddin 269 1-The holy Prophet Adam Bashar Bakkour The holy Prophet Adam, peace be upon him (pbuh), is the Mankind’s father and the first human being to set foot on the earth. He is mentioned in six long Quranic chapters telling the story of his creation and other related events, most remarkable of which is Iblîs'(Satan’s) rejection of Allah's Divine Order to prostrate himself to Adam. The first Quranic text is: And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: "I will make a viceroy on the earth." They said: "Will you place in it those who will make mischief in it and shed blood, while we do celebrate Your Praise and Glory?" He (Allah) said: "I know what you do not know." 30 And He (Allah) taught Adam the names of all things, and then He offered them to the angels and said: "Tell me the names of these if you are truthful." 31 They replied: "Glory to You! We have no knowledge except that which You have taught us. Verily, You are All-Knowing and All-Wise. 32 He (Allah) said to Adam: "Tell them their names." When he (Adam) told them their names, He (Allah) said: "Did I not tell you that I know what is unseen in the heavens and the earth and that I know what you reveal and what you conceal?" 33 And (remember) when We said to the angels: "Prostrate yourselves to Adam." They all fell down prostrate, except Iblîs (Satan), who refused and was arrogant, and was one of the disbelievers. 34 And We said to Adam: "Dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise. And eat, both of you, easefully where you desire, but do not go near this tree, otherwise you will be one of the wrongdoers." 35 However, Satan caused them to slip from it (Paradise),and removed them from the state they were in. And We said: "Get down (all of you), you will be each other’s enemies. On earth will be the place for your dwelling and enjoyment for a time." 36 Then Adam received some words from his Lord, Who accepted his repentance. Verily, He is Ever the Acceptor of Repentance, the Most Merciful. 37 [2: 30-37. See also chapters, [ 7: 11-25], [15: 26-44], [17: 61-65], [20: 115-126], [38: 67-88]. The word "Adam" in Arabic is derived either from "Adim al-Ard", which means: "the surface of the earth" or from "Al-Udmah", which means "brownness". Allah, Glory to Him, informed His angels that He would create a human being, whom He would call 'Adam', and of whose offspring would be generations succeeding one another. By way of enquiry not objection, the Angels asked: “Will you place in the earth those who will make mischief…?" In other words, they enquired whether the new creature would commit evil deeds or spread corruption on earth, while they glorified the Lord in absolute obedience and devotion. In fact, they desired to know the wisdom behind creating such a new human creature as Adam. However, an imperative question may arise in this context: What made the angels think that the new human creature, and his offspring, would make such probable mischief on earth? In answer to this question, two suggestions have been put forward. The first suggestion was adopted by two eminent commentators of the Holy Quran, Abdullah Ibn Omar and Ibn ‘Abbas, who mentioned that, before the creation of Adam (pbuh), Jinn had dwelled on earth. They had made a lot of mischief and committed heinous crimes and murders. Therefore, Allah the Almighty sent hosts of angels who killed some of them and forced the others to have recourse to the seas and summits.1 The second suggestion, adopted by some contemporary commentators, such as Sheikh ‘Abdurrahman H abannakah, holds that the foregoing Quranic verses could be interpreted as follows: The angels asked Allah, the Almighty, to describe the qualities of the new human creature, Glory to Him, informed them that, among the human characteristics of Adam, there are a free will, whereby he makes his own choices, the ability to learn and acquire knowledge, lusty desires and caprices that he strives to satisfy even by committing sins and misdeeds. Such illaudable human traits are conducive to lots of mischief and bloodshed. 2 The latter opinion is supported by At-T abari, a well-known Quranic commentator and historic, in his tradition that goes to the same effect, confirming vulnerability of Adam's offspring to such illaudable human traits as envy, corruption, murder, and bloodshed. 3 However, Allah's answer to the angels' enquiry came: "I know what you know not." In other words, Allah, alone, knows the wisdom behind the creation of mankind. Phases of Adam's creation: It is common knowledge that Adam (pbuh) was created from clay, a mixture of water and dust. According to Muslim's traditions and the collections of Prophetic adith, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: 1 Fossil records revealed that there had been creatures and living things before human beings. 2 Ma‘arij At-Tafakkur, ‘Abdurrahman H abannakah. Vol. 3, p 674-675 3 Ibid. exalted? ' 75 He ( Iblîs) said, 'I am better than he is. You created me from fire, while You created him from clay.' 76 [38:75-76]. However, envy and arrogance stood behind Iblîs's rejection and disobedience. Due to his insolent arrogance, Iblîs was expelled from the heavenly world. Allah commanded him, saying: 'Then get out from it (Paradise)! You are accursed; and the curse will be on you till the Day of Judgment.' [15: 34- 35] Allah also addressed him: 'Get down from it. It is not for you to be proud here. Get out; you are one of the degraded' [7: 13] Admitting Allah's Divinity, Iblîs said: 'O my Lord, respite me till the day when they are raised up (i.e. as You issued this decree to dismiss me from Your Mercy, so keep me alive till the Day of Judgment).' [15: 36] Allah answered Iblîs' request and promised to respite him to the Resurrection Day. To this effect, the verse goes: He (Allah) said, 'You are among the ones that are given respite 37 till the day of the time appointed.' 38 [15: 37- 38] Having received the Divine Promise, Iblîs declared that he would make each and every endeavor to allure Adam's children away from the straight path. He said: 'I swear by Your Glory, that I will seduce them all, 82 except Your Chosen Servants.' 83 [38: 82-83]. He added arrogantly: 'Do You see this (creature) whom You have honored above me? If You give me respite till the Day of Resurrection, I will surely lead astray his descendents, except a few of them. ' [17:62]. Another Quranic verse shows the outlines of Iblîs' seduction plans: He said, 'because you caused me to go astray, I shall sit in ambush for them (Adam's children) and prevent them from following Your Straight Path. 16 Then I shall come upon them from before them, from behind them, from their right hands and from their left hands; and You will not find most of them thankful.'17 [7:16-17]. However, Allah, the Most Merciful, said: You will have no power over My faithful servants, except those who follow you of the wrongdoers.' [15: 42].
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